


the trail so full of twists and turns

by sesquidpedalian



Series: Dr. Stone Week 2020 [7]
Category: Dr. STONE (Anime)
Genre: Childhood Friends, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Picnics, Platonic Relationships, Sleepovers, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, if at any point during this you're wondering how they're in the same house, senku is bad at feelings, the answer is sleepovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:27:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25081609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sesquidpedalian/pseuds/sesquidpedalian
Summary: “I didn’t respond to a text and your first thought was that I’d been kidnapped?”“It wastwotexts.”For Dr. Stone Week 2020 Day Seven: Foundation - Fantasy vs. Science, Free Day, “It’s not science ‘till something’s on fire!”
Relationships: Ishigami Senkuu & Ogawa Yuzuriha & Ooki Taiju, Ogawa Yuzuriha/Ooki Taiju
Series: Dr. Stone Week 2020 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2078955
Comments: 7
Kudos: 42
Collections: Dr. Stone Week 2020





	the trail so full of twists and turns

**Author's Note:**

> working title for this was "senku loves his stupid dipshit friends so much"; i love these three 
> 
> the actual title is from "team" by Louie Zong, ft. Danette

The scientific method is simple, but incredibly versatile, Senku tells Taiju when they are quite young. Their friendship is still a small, budding thing, and Senku’s seen enough plants grow and bloom and wilt to know: these things take time and care. So he pours all the care he can into his explanation, carving clear diagrams into the chalkboard under Taiju’s wide, watchful eyes.

_First, simply observe. Ask questions. Collect information._

* * *

The day is going to be glorious, the weatherman promises, and walking outside by the dew-flecked grass in the midst of the trilling dawn chorus, Senku could nearly believe it. He watches a sparrow flit by above, all fluttering wings and hollow bones and perfectly crafted feathers. He thinks of human wings, metal and fire, wonders what it would take to craft his own, if he even could with his limited materials and comparative mass.

He is jolted out of these thoughts by a shout, somewhere far behind him. It’s too early in the morning for any decent person to be up and running around, and the next words he hears confirm his suspicions. 

“Hey, Senku! Where are you going?”

Taiju. He hollers down the street with no regard for the multiple people that must still be asleep at this hour.

Senku turns and waves. He may as well give up hope now of having a quiet walk. Taiju beams and sprints toward him, skidding to a halt just before collision, his arms flung celebratorily wide. “Good morning!”

“Morning.”

“Where’ve you been?” Taiju asks, still loud. Senku sticks a finger in his ear.

“Walking. Why are you up so early after a sleepover, you oaf? Got somewhere to be?”

“Well, I woke up and you weren’t there so I tried texting you, except an hour passed, and in all the time I've known you, you’ve _never_ ignored two of my texts in a row for more than an hour. I thought you got kidnapped, Senku!” And the way he laughs about it, clearly only half-joking, says everything he can’t risk his teenage pride to say.

Senku feels his mouth twitch into a smile. “I didn’t respond to a text and your first thought was that I’d been kidnapped? Also, it’s around eight in the morning, right? Why were you up at _seven_?”

“I just said!” Taiju thumps Senku on the back and Senku almost doesn’t stumble. “You weren’t there! What happened to that genius memory of yours, huh? And it was _two_ texts.”

Senku shoves at Taiju’s shoulder, to extremely limited effect. “I forgot my phone at home. Sorry to worry you, Mom.”

“Hey, just don’t do it again.” Taiju throws an arm around Senku’s shoulders.

_So transparent. You don’t have an evil bone in you, do you?_

“Uh huh.” Senku shrugs off the touch. “I brought money with me. Wanna go see if the bakery’s open? We can get Yuzuriha and Byakuya some bread for breakfast.”

Taiju grins, already back to his usual self. “Sure!” He falls into step beside Senku easily. “Oh, hey, did I tell you? Yuzuriha asked us to go to the silent fireworks show they’re doing next week!”

“What, both of us? I don’t recall her asking me anything.” 

(What he does recall is handing her that flyer about the **_Brand New Silent Fireworks Display!!!!_ ** and telling her she would have to do the rest because he is absolutely _not_ getting involved in any more of this relationship business.)

“She said—” Taiju stops mid-thought. Takes a few seconds to process. “No, wait, did she…?”

Senku raises his eyebrows. “I think she only asked you, Taiju.”

“What!” Taiju waves his arms around, blushing madly. “No way, she wouldn’t want to exclude you! She’s so sweet and thoughtful, she’d never—”

“Taiju.”

“That can’t be right, right? You really think she only asked me?” Taiju demands.

Senku takes a very deep breath, searches the deepest depths of his psyche for patience. “Yes, you big oaf, I think after literal _years_ of the two of you dancing around each other, _one of you_ is finally making a move.”

Taiju’s expression is more bewildered than anything. Then he recovers himself and puffs up his chest. “There’s no way! _I’m_ the guy, I should be making the first move.”

Senku remembers, suddenly, vividly, why he left for his walk so early in the morning. 

“Clearly your outdated courting rituals have failed you. What are you, a bird of paradise? She asked you out, so are you gonna go or not?” 

Taiju hesitates.

Senku tilts his head, squints up at the bright, bright sky. To sweeten the pot, he adds, “Since they’re silent fireworks, she could be able to bring her dog too.”

This throws a wrench in Taiju’s convictions. He visibly struggles with it for a minute or two.

“Her dog _is_ really cute,” Taiju mutters eventually, looking oddly embarrassed. “I still don’t get why you always say you don’t see it.”

“Dogs evolved to look appealing to us. Born out of a mutually beneficial relationship. Doesn’t make that yappy little monster _cute_.”

“C’mon, he only bit you once!”

“Once was _enough_!”

Taiju’s laughter is probably loud enough to rouse anyone that wasn’t already awake from his shouting.

They arrive at the bakery and get enough for a feast, Senku muttering at Taiju not to squash their purchases the whole way home. At the front entrance, waiting for Senku to open the door, Taiju says, apropos of nothing, “You’re a really good friend, Senku.”

What Senku thinks as warmth blooms in his chest is, _If I found the secret to immortality, I would give it to you first, Taiju._

What he says is, “What’s going on with you today?”

He pushes the door open, and the day goes on.

* * *

_Next, formulate a hypothesis._

* * *

Senku thinks, sometimes, that he would be happy to spend the rest of his life with these two. Then he quickly stops thinking about that because asking him to consider it for too long is like asking him to stare into the sun and describe the details of its surface. 

(That would be a dumb thing to do, without proper eye protection. Senku’s not interested in permanently damaging his vision.)

The three of them are gathered on a picnic blanket in the blazing heat of summer, the late morning sun relentless, the birds quiet as they flutter to and fro in the branches overhead. Yuzuriha insisted on the outing, something about enjoying the nice weather, and Taiju got too swept up in the idea for Senku to resist their combined pleading. The shade of the tree they’re under is doing little to help against the sticky, humid air.

“We should’ve just gone to the museum like I said,” Senku complains, the temperature completely frying his ability to not sound like a child. He tugs at a wire in the fan he brought. “What’s the point of the modern miracle of air conditioning if we never make use of it?”

“We can go to a museum later, if you want,” Yuzuriha offers with infinite patience. She hands Senku a screwdriver and he takes the back off the portable generator that was _supposed_ to power his fan. “We do have all day, after all. We can spend it however we want.”

“I heard there’s a new dinosaur exhibit!” Taiju chimes in. “How cool is that?” He raises his arms over his head, fingers curled in a crude imitation of claws. “Roar! Tyrannosaurus rex, ruler of the dinos!”

“A T. rex couldn’t have done that, you oaf.” Sparks shoot out of the generator and the fan gives a half-hearted spin before sputtering back to a halt. Senku decides he’ll have to resort to percussive maintenance soon.

“Teeny arms,” Yuzuriha says, nodding understandingly.

“Teeny arms,” Taiju agrees, beaming. He puts his hands down and peers over Senku’s shoulder to see what he’s up to.

When Senku next asks for a tool, Yuzuriha hands him a cupcake instead. “You should eat something.”

“I did.” _Maybe I need to replace this part; it’s looking a little worn…_ He absently sets the cupcake down on the blanket.

Yuzuriha nudges it in his direction again, quietly imploring. “You had three strawberries.”

“That counts! And anyway, I’m working on this.”

“Food is good for you, you know.” When he looks up, she’s staring at him in the same melting-hearted way she watches little birds fighting. (“ _Oh, I wish they’d stop pecking at each other like that, the poor little things._ ”) Senku doesn’t particularly like that look, because he has a sneaking suspicion there isn’t much he wouldn’t do to make it go away. 

Plus, she always wins the argument when she looks at him like that, and Senku’s pride can’t stand it.

He sighs heavily, takes the cupcake, and frowns down at it. It’s small in his hand and liberally coated in sprinkles. The icing is, for inexplicable reasons, garishly green. 

“This is probably going to kill me,” he tells Yuzuriha, deadpan.

“It’s not!” Laughter ripples around the edges of her words. She can never stay serious for long, not when Senku’s mastered the art of smiling just enough for her to recognize the joke.

“It could, if he chokes to death on it,” Taiju says unhelpfully.

“Oh, don’t say _that_!” Yuzuriha puts her face in her hands, giggling.

“Don’t worry, I know CPR! You’re in good hands, Senku!” Taiju boasts, straightening up proudly.

“Dunno about that. You’d probably break all my ribs trying to do chest compressions.”

“I’m sure you would do great,” Yuzuriha says reassuringly when Taiji droops, staring worriedly at his hands. She pats Taiju on the shoulder. “If you don’t eat that cupcake, Senku, I’ll give you another one, and then you’ll have to eat _two_.”

“Wow, what a threat. I’m terrified.”

Senku takes a bite of the cupcake. It’s all right.

They don’t end up going to a museum. Senku finds that sitting on that blanket tinkering with the fan, listening to Taiju and Yuzuriha chatter away, is perfectly acceptable. Despite the heat and the ants and the sugar sticking to his fingers, he could be fine there forever.

* * *

_Conduct an experiment to test your hypothesis._

* * *

Senku allows himself one breath to steel himself, then he yanks the cup—presently empty, formerly brimming with hot chocolate—out of Yuzuriha’s hands, and says, “I’ll wash it, love you, good night.” 

He shuts the door to the room she’s sleeping in and darts away before either she or Taiju can come looking for him.

He gets one night of the least restful sleep he’s had in a while, and in the morning, Yuzuriha pulls him aside before she has to go, eyes bright and warm.

“Senku, about the thing you said last night—”

“It wasn’t a romantic thing. I just figured you guys should know. As I am now, I won’t be able to function in a society that demands at least some emotional awareness, so I thought I’d practice. On you guys. It’s easier. Somewhere to start. I know it’s weird, but I thought...” He runs out of words to say and braces himself to look at her.

She’s grinning from ear to ear. It must be pretty close to what Taiju sees every time he looks at her. “I thought so. I wanted to say I love you too.”

“Not in a romantic way. Because Taiju would be devastated—”

She laughs, accustomed to him, all of him, by now. “Yes. In the least romantic way possible, I love you too.”

“Okay.” He looks up to see Taiju barrelling down the stairs, all his stuff packed up at last. “Okay. See you guys.” Gives himself another breath. It went well with Yuzuriha, and the adrenaline is still addling his system, so he adds, “Love you.”

He pushes them out the door and slams it shut before anyone else can get another word in. Byakuya peeks in from around the corner, radiating amusement.

“What do you want, old man?” Senku grumbles, face burning.

Byakuya grins at him. “I’m making lunch! Do you want ramen?”

(Spoilers, but the answer is _yes_.)

Three days later, Senku works up the nerve to try again. He and Taiju are walking home by the riverside, Yuzuriha gone off somewhere with some friends.

“Wanna race?” Taiju asks, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet.

“You know I’d rather not.” Senku’s beginning to suspect that Taiju knows exactly how bad he is at any and all physical activity—maybe even _has_ known for a while now—and just wants an excuse to run around. Maybe he does it because it always makes Senku roll his eyes and smile. “You’re like a giant puppy. Inexhaustible.”

Taiju grins good-naturedly, interlocking his hands behind his head. “It’s useful to you, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.” Senku stares out over the water, the reflected sunlight dazzling. “Wouldn’t have gotten this far without you as my test-subject-slash-accomplice.”

Taiju straightens up the way he always does when he’s about to make an all-important declaration. “As long as I can be useful to you and your crazy science, Senku, I’ll do my best!”

Senku huffs, mentally calculating. 

“Love you too, you big oaf.”

He can’t run or hide from that one; it’s still at least five minutes before they get to Taiju’s house. To his immeasurable, private relief, Taiju barely bats an eye, just laughs and pulls him into a brief sideways hug before asking what Senku’s next project is going to be. Senku gladly loses himself in telling Taiju about the latest things he’s learned about rocket propulsion (“ _We can increase the useful load by ten billion percent if we use this type of multi-stage rocket—the equations are really simple too—_ ”), and when they wave goodbye at Taiju’s door, Taiju adds a guileless, cheerful “Love you!” to the end.

* * *

_Draw conclusions._

* * *

In the stone world, Senku leaves the endless dark with three names in his head. Beside the numbers, relentless and habitual, he recites memories of them, and finds there the answer to his original question.

When he unearths his friends’ stone bodies, he nearly sobs. (Nearly. But there’s no time. He needs them back, here and with him, and he tells himself that it’s for Yuzuriha’s dexterity and not her smile, that it’s for Taiju’s brute strength and not his relentless enthusiasm, because otherwise he’d be staring straight into the sun.)

He would spend eternity with them. He would, and that isn’t exactly _logical_ or _scientific_ , but how silly of him, to forget. There are places science hasn’t reached yet. There are places where his dreams of seeing their faces again subsume all else, and try as he might, his brain short-circuits long before he can start being scientific about _them_.

* * *

Senku beams, toothy-bright, at the end of his lesson. Taiju listened to the whole thing with rapt attention.

_One more thing._

* * *

The stars above them twinkle brighter than they ever did before the petrification. Taiju saws away with the bow drill Senku crafted. Some cautious coaxing from Yuzuriha, and up springs a flame. Senku grins at the fire, at the light, at his friends, and tells them about the most important scientific principle he ever learned.

_It’s not real science until something’s on fire._

(Anything, anything, to scrub the shadows off their faces and hear them laugh again.)


End file.
